


Knight's Reunion

by MistBorn_SprenDeath



Category: Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 11:03:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21457000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistBorn_SprenDeath/pseuds/MistBorn_SprenDeath
Summary: Tien wasn't sure how long he could keep ahead of them, he had run out of spheres two chasms ago. He felt sick to his stomach, he had used too much stormlight much too quickly and his body was having a hard time adjusting. Arya chirped worriedly beside him, twisting in and out of form as she circled around him. He just had to stay ahead of them until he could find a good nook to hide in.
Relationships: Kaladin & Tien (Stormlight Archive)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 34





	1. In the Chasms

The sounds of the Shattered Plains consisted of the clatter of Chasmfiends and the dripping of water. It was dangerous down in the chasms, more so than on the battlefield. Knowing you're about to be run down, is different from not knowing if you're about to drown in the sudden Highstorms or in the claws of a chasmfiend. Both are terrifying in their own respective ways, but none of that compared to how he felt at that moment.

“Don't worry, Ti! If you start to worry then you'll have no chance-!”

He stumbled into the wall of the chasm. “If you keep talking, I'm going to hurl, Arya.”

Pouting silently, the spren floated beside his head.

The sound of footsteps followed closely behind, and their voices echoed angrily.

He glanced at Arya before stumbling forward, but ahead of him, there were more voices.

"-can't hide away forever. You know that!" The voice belonged to a female, probably no older than his spren.

Scoffing, a familiar voice pierced the air. "Who said I'm hiding, Syl?"

That voice, he knew that voice. Slowly rising as he pushed himself away from the chasm wall, he peered into the adjoining chasm.

Standing there, with a royal blue coat and slave brands on his forehead, was Kaladin. The eighteen-year-old froze and finally gasped.

Those once dark eyes were now bright blue, and they blazed holes into him. Stumbling away from the wall, eyes wide, he searched the man he once knew.

"K-Kal." He choked on the words.

Blue eyes widened dramatically. "T-Ti? T-Tien?!"

Tien had dropped his crude club and was instantly rushing towards his brother. Sweeping him into a large hug, Kaladin seemed to be shaking.

"You're real. You're actually here. Almighty, you're here." That last phrase seemed to bring Kaladin back to reality.

Pulling back, he inspected his younger brother with frantic eyes. "What are you doing here, Tien?!"

Tien looked away for a moment before he turned back to his brother, sighing, "I-I'll tell you. B-But can we not do it here? My st-story might t-take a while, and-" The 18-year-old looked back the way he had come. "I've kind of been running from some lighteyes."

Kaladin stiffened and Tien did too.

Tien wasn't sure if his brother was offended, because he obviously had blue eyes now; and Kaladin stiffened at the mention of his younger brother being hunted down by lighteyes.

Quickly taking action, Kaladin tugged Tien in the direction of the war effort. “Let’s go then. I have a few friends, we can stick with them.”

The younger man tried to hide his shock. Why were Kaladin's friends part of the war effort? Had Kaladin gotten himself involved in the war? After a heavy moment of silence, Tien finally asked. ”Where did you meet your friends?”

Remembering how to converse with someone in Alethi was hard, especially when he hadn’t spoken the language in years. He had storming learned how to read and write, a lot had changed since Tien had last seen Kaladin.

Realizing how the question might seem, he flushed and ducked his head. “Sorry. Your life probably hasn’t been easy, and I just asked you a very personal question- which you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to!”

Kaladin’s eyes widened and a smile broke onto his face. The crinkles of laugh lines were strange and his laughter sounded dry as if unused.

What had his brother been through? Tien was sure that with his experience in 4 years as a student he knew this pointed to severe depression. With a pang in his heart, he wondered if his severe injury (thought to be, death) had been a contributing factor to its severity.

“You sounded like a kid again, worried that the other apprentices would be offended by your questions.” He wrapped an arm around Tien, still smiling. “I met them a while back, my friends I mean. I, after you - Amaram stole the shard blade and plate I had won during that battle. He couldn’t have me telling anyone, so he killed my troops and branded me. I ended up in the war camps. My friends were bridemen with me.”

Tien was surprised that his brother was so open about what had happened. He would have expected Kaladin to refuse to believe what he was alive. “Kaladin? Why are you so calm?”

His brother laughed again, giving him a squeeze. ”If you’re here that means that what happened with Shallan and Adolin is all just a part of a delusional dream. Just wishful thinking.”

Tien shook his head as Kaladin began walking. “No! Kaladin! I’m actually here!”

Kaladin let out a happy sigh, “I’ve missed hearing your voice.”

Hurrying to catch up with his older brother, Tien stumbled again. “Wait! No! Kaladin! I’m serious! Kaladin!


	2. The Camp

Rock looked up in surprise. Walking towards the camp, with a stranger in tow, was Kaladin Stormblessed laughing without restraint.

“Kal! Just listen to me! I am _not_ a hallucination!”

The statement seemed to amuse the normally serious man even more.

The shorter man looked familiar, but Rock couldn’t place why. The boy looked well-fed and had a slim build, still filling his clothing nicely.

“Stormblessed?” Rock called out to the Radiant.

Bright blue eyes that twinkled with mirth riveted on him and Rock nearly fell over. He had never seen his captain this happy. Rock looked back at the newcomer with wide eyes. If that man was the cause for such joy in the Radiant, who seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders constantly. He will be stuffed with more food then he has ever seen, Rock promised himself. The horneater would feed him like a king for as long as he remained with them.

“Rock! You’re here too?”

The man beside him let out a frustrated sigh. “Kal, for the last time! I am _not_ dead, and this is _not_ a dream!”

Rock’s horror and confusion must have shown because the stranger winced as he dragged the Radiant forward.

“No. You’re dead. I saw it.” Kaladin spoke flippantly but Rock could see the shadows in his captain's eyes. 

The younger man steadied the captain as the man tipped ever so slightly. “Kaladin, you can’t go around telling people that!” He then turned to Rock, a furrow in his brow. “How long has he been out in the chasms?”

The horneater frowned, watching the two carefully. “I’m not sure. He’s been out of the barracks since down.”

Looking at Stormblessed worriedly, the younger man felt the captain's forehead. As he did so, he muttered to himself. "You always pushed yourself harder than you had strength, Kal." Then, turning back to Rock, the stranger dragged the captain forward. "I'm not half the medic that Kal was, but he has a fever. Do you have-" The boy paused, seeming to search for a word. "What's the Alethi word for _Jilmet_?" He muttered to himself, frustrated, but he quickly pushed away from the frustration and turned back to Rock. "Kal was always overly cautious, did he prepare medical supplies in case of fever?"

The horneater stepped forward and took the captain from the younger man. "When we were still making runs Stormblessed did keep medical supplies, but ever since Dalinar Kholin freed the bridgemen we have had medics assigned."

Wide eyes met Rock's. "Stormblessed?"

Taking note of the spren on the young man's shoulder, Rock bowed slightly to her. "I can see that you also have a spren. You must be a Radiant like the captain." 

The young man stumbled back as if shocked. "My brother is a-a Radiant?!"

Suddenly, the sense of familiarity from before made sense. The youth looked similar to the captain, those same deep eyes and dark hair. But those deep eyes didn't seem as haunted and his hair seemed well kept. 

"You are the Stormblessed's brother?" Rock asked the question though he already knew the answer. 

Looking back at the horneater, the young man nodded. "Y-Yes. My name is Tien, Kaladin's younger brother."


	3. The Camp

Kaladin woke up slowly, his head pulsing faintly as his dream slowly faded. 

_Tien_

His heart clenched painfully. He hadn't had a dream like that in years.

Normally Kaladin was able to brush off those thoughts light raindrops, it would do him no good to hope for the impossible. But Tien had seemed so real.   
  


Kaladin couldn’t recall returning the barracks, or even leaving them that morning. 

Such dreams were always bitterly sweet. A possibility of what Kaladin could never have.

All because of Amaram.

The bittersweetness was quickly overwhelmed by the bitterness he felt consuming him whole. 

Dalinar Kholin had done something unexpected by freeing the bridgemen. But not all surprises from light eyes could be taken at face value, Kaladin knew better than to trust a faint hope that never seemed to grasp his reality.

“-Not sure about that.”

Voices approached, and Kaladin began to realize just how badly his head was pounding.

”He seemed pretty dehydrated before he passed out. I just hope he was able to get some sleep.”

The doors to the barracks were thrown open, allowing a bright noonday sun to pierce the shadows within, and worsening Kaladin’s headache. 

”Stormblessed, you’re awake!” The horneater’s voice boomed in the captain’s ears.

”Why did you let me sleep in so late? It’s nearly midday. My shift should have started several hours ago.” Kaladin forced himself out of bed, standing with a hand on the wall to support him. 

”You passed out, Kal.” That voice made Kaladin’s head snap up in surprise, he nearly choked. “Besides, your friends were more than willing to help cover your shift.”

There, beside Rock, was Tien.

“T-Tien?!” Kaladin choked on his brother’s name before he scrambled out of his blanket. “Wh-What-?!”

His younger brother quickly made his way to Kaladin’s side, moving faster than he had been able to only a few years ago. 

”Calm down, Kal. This isn’t a dream. I’m right here.” Tien’s hand touched his arm and it was like being shocked by lightning.   
  


Tien was _alive_.

Kaladin cried.


	4. In the Kholin Camp

Kaladin ended up not taking any shift that day, instead, it was spent with Tien. A voice in the back of his mind whispered about his responsibilities, about the ongoing war, but his heart was beating too loudly with excitement.

Tien was alive.

Together, side by side, they traded jokes and laughter as they walked through the camp of Dalinar Kholin. Neither one of them said anything if there was a flinch or a wince, unsure of how to get past the stiff distance that time had built.

Tien ignored it when soldiers would salute Kaladin as they passed by.

Kaladin ignored it when Tien would shrink beside him as light eyes walked by.

But those conversations could only be held at bay for so long before something snapped. In their case, Adolin Kholin was the breaking point.

Kaladin was laughing as Tien finished his joke about a three-legged fish. It wasn’t even a good joke, it was almost as bad as one of Lopen’s, but Tien was the one telling it and that fact made it the best joke in the world. The familiarity and comfort of Tien’s presence had always brightened and emboldened Kaladin’s spirits, and even though they had both changed, Tien’s smile hadn’t. 

That’s when Adolin Kholin stepped in.

Three things happened within 8 heartbeats. 

First, Adolin Kholin burst out of a tavern with Shallan on his arm and a loud greeting on his lips.

Second, Kaladin tensed beside Tien.

Thirdly, and finally, Tien drew a shimmering shardblade out of thin air and stepped between his tense brother and the light-eyed couple. 

Although Adolin thought it would be funny to put the little dark-eyes in his place, Kaladin was not ready to rewatch Tien run into the slaughter. Quickly and sharply, Kaladin placed himself in front of the two storming light-eyes. “Tien! Put the shard away. They’re important light-eyes out here on the Shattered Planes.” Kaladin ignored the part that was screaming at him that Tien had a shardblade, he ignored the two light-eyes behind him. Kaladin would refuse to let another person to be hurt on his account, he refused to fail Tien again. 

Tien glared suspiciously over Kaladin’s shoulder but dismissed the blade nonetheless. “Fine. But if they try to stab you, I’m so stabbing them first.”

Whether it was Kaladin or Adolin who was more surprised, it was hard to tell. Kaladin grew up with a young and innocent little boy who loved to make jokes and collect rocks, not a boy who had a shardblade and threatened light-eyes for his brother’s sake. Adolin had never met a dark-eyes that had flat out threatened him to protect another dark-eyes, much less the grumpy bridge-boy. Shallan was just delighted. 

Kaladin said nothing, just grabbed Tien by the shoulders and began steering him away from the light-eyes. Alas, Adolin Kholin was known for, if nothing, his annoying and nosey tendencies. “Now, now, now! You can’t just run away after an introduction like that, Bridge-Boy!” Kaladin shot back over his shoulder, “I can and I will, princeling.”

Tien and Kaladin needed to talk.

**Author's Note:**

> So I found this story in one of my google docs, hiding away, and decided to post it so that I can clean up the clutter on my google drive. I hope you guys like it! I haven't seen enough fanfictions where Tien is alive and ready to help. (I also love unhealthy amounts of fluff, so...this was born) Be sure to leave a Kudo if you enjoy this story, and leave a comment down below to tell me about what you think! Have a great day/night! :)


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